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Tamales..daring cooks challenge

Maranda of Jolts & Jollies was our January 2012 Daring Cooks hostess with the mostess! Maranda challenged us to make traditional Mexican Tamales as our first challenge of the year!

I have never tried tamales before so I was both curious and somewhat apprehensive when the challenge was announced.

First there was the monthly ingredient hunt and sadly I was not very lucky this month. First there was no dried corn husks, no masa harina and no tomatillos. What to do?

Google comes to the rescue.

Tamale wrappings: You can wrap tamales in green corn husks, parchment paper, banana leaves or even foil. so I decided to try green corn husks and vine leaves. Vine leaves are usually stuffed with rice and minced meat or make into yalangi which is the vegetarian counter part stuffed with rice, tomatoes, mint and green onions. They withstand cooking well and add a gentle flavor to the stuffing so I thought why not.

Tamale fillings: There is room for creativity here, the stuffings can be anything you like. Chicken, tomatillos and chilies or maybe black beans, tomatoes and chilies or how about beef and pepper. It is really up to your taste, you can use your favorite Mexican flavors. I decided to go with onions, chicken, pepper, olives, and cheddar cheese.

Tamale dough: Traditionally tamale is made with masa harina but you can use corn meal (not corn starch) as long as you grind it to fine texture.

Chicken tamales

For the tamale filling:

2 Chicken breasts or thighs or a combination cooked and shredded (I boiled the chicken with onions,garlic, cumin, paprika and black pepper)

If the mixture seems too thick (you can taste it for moistness) add up to ½ cup (120 ml) more of the broth 2 tablespoons (30 ml) at a time. (The dough should be a cookie dough like texture).

Assembling the tamales

Take 3 large corn husks and tear them into ¼ inch (6 mm) strips. (If you are using dried corn husks ,I would suggest you put these back in the water until use because they dry out and start breaking when you try to work with them.

Take a large pot with a steamer attachment. Pour about 2 inches (5 cm) of water into the bottom of the pot, or enough to touch the bottom of the steamer. Line the bottom of the steamer with corn husks.

Unfold 2 corn husks onto a work surface. Take a little dough and, starting near the top of the husk on the smooth side,

Spread the dough, leaving some empty space at the bottom of the husk. Place the filling in a line down the center of the dough square.

Fold the dough into the corn husk.

And wrap the husk around the dough.

Fold up the skinny bottom part of the husk and secure it with one of the corn husk ties.

Stand them up in the steamer. If there aren’t enough tamales to tightly pack the steamer, place crumpled aluminum foil in the excess space.

Steam the tamales for about 40 minutes or until the dough deepens in color and easily pulls away from the husk.

For the vine leave tamale

Boil some water and then drop your vine leaves into it, turn off the heat and allow the water to cool down completely (you only want to soften the leaves)

Place some tamale dough in the center on the vine leave and spread it to form a think layer

Place the filling in the center of the dough

Fold the leave sides as you can see in the picture.

secure with green onions or shredded corn husks.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:

The fillings can be made a day in advance and kept in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

The tamales can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Tamales can be made 2 days in advance. Let cool one hour, place in refrigerator in an air tight container

The verdict:

The kids loved making the tamales and really enjoyed the corn husk ones. I leaned towards the vine leave wrapped ones. My husband on the other hand was not a big fan of either. Not sure this is a dish I would make again. It was just too labour intensive . That being said thank you so much Maranda for challenging us to try something new

You always impress me with your creativity… you’re always immersed in food challenges and come up with a dish that is so impressive. I would have looked for the first ingredient and given up if I hadn’t found it! Great take on the tamale!!

Sawsan, like you, I was so intrigued about tamales, I’ve never had them either but I’m sure I would love them. I loved your creativity using the vine leaves, I enjoy them immensely too. You did a wonderful job and inspired me even more to try making them sometime soon. Your photos are gorgeous and make me want to grab one right now! Hope to be back to the challenges next month! I miss all the fun!

Heh, I had heard of tamales before, although I actually had no idea what they were. They look delicious, and wow, you’ve made them look so pretty in those different leaves/husks. I love the idea of using corn husk leaves too… so cool 🙂

Honestly, you never cease to amaze me. Your interpretation of this dish is gorgeous and I love the way you got round the problems of not being able to find some of those ingredients. Everything looks so pretty too (especially the vine leaf wrapped ones – love the texture on them). And what patience you had….seriously impressive Sawsan, well done!

I’m a big fan of tamales and often order a couple when dining in a Mexican restaurant. Like you say, though, they are labor intensive and I would never have thought to try to make them at home. I give you credit for doing so and rather successfully, at that. 🙂

I’ve never eaten or made a tamale in my life before but I love the Greek style stuffed vine leaves, which means i’ll probably love these too. Thanks for the detailed explanation and the length you went to to find replacement ingredients, it’s really, really useful!

Too labour intensive but so pretty to look at! Never tried to make tamales before, when I have more time, I would give it a go… Thank you for the detailed wrapping instructions, it’s so helpful!
Have a wonderful day, Sawsan 🙂

I love the vine leaf montage you’ve made on how to roll them! That kind of thing is so very, very handy for people like me who haven’t attempted to make them before (but tend to eat them whenever they get the chance!). Thanks Sawsan! Yet again, I’m humbled by your adventurous cooking.

You did a great job with the ingredients you found–very creative. I love the pattern of the one unwrapped from the vine leaf. They were time-consuming to make, and even though I loved them I won’t be making them again anytime soon!

Wow, Sawsan you are really creative, and now we can claim the middle eastern tamales, hehehe
These tamales look very delicious, I can imagine the flavor when using the vine leaves, sure it will give it the sour taste, yummy.

You did an impressive amount of research for this challenge! I’ve only had tamales once and they were black bean tamales. I think they had goat cheese too – they were certainly not your traditional tamales. I’m always confused by the corn husk though. I find it tough to eat. The vine leaves you used are just so pretty – love those! Another great challenge tackled Sawsan! 🙂

Thank you so much Kristy, I was tempted to try the black bean version but had no time. The corn husks are supposed to be peeled when you finish steaming the dough, they are there just to hold the dough until it is cooked, on the other hand the vine leaves can be eaten and they add a pleasant taste to the whole thing

I was actually talking to a friend the other day about Tamales and she told me it’s not as easy as I think to make (well I didn’t think it was easy at all but didn’t know it takes sometime to make). I am envious that you made homemade tamales! My Mexican friend said her mom always makes it for Christmas time and it’s a tradition in her family. Our Sawsan knows how to cook everything! You should be a chef! Although you are already successful orthodontist. =P

From what I read it is a wonderful activity to spend with friends and family with many traditions and rituals.You are lucky to have a Mexican friend, they have such a wonderful heritage.
Thank you for your sweet comment

I’ve always wondered what tamales were and I actually have some masa harina in the cupboard 😀 but no corn husks 😦 might have to follow your lead and go down the vine leaf route or maybe banana leaf and go Caribbean or Thai. My head is spinning with ideas now, thank you!! Happy New Year (belated) Sawsan and thanks for linking to my pomegranate cheesecake, hope you try it & like it!!

Tamale’s are very popular in the US, I suspect because of their large Mexican population. I had never had one until about 2 years ago, my friend Theresa (Rock Star Bus) served them for lunch. They are made by a Mexican lady at her work, and she just buys them and freezes them for quick meals. I wasn’t a huge fan of the masa so it is unlikely I would try this recipe (not a big fan of grits or polenta either!) but your step-by-step is totally awesome!

I had to skip this month… my parents were visiting form Italy and I just did not have enough time to go on the hunt for such “uncommon” ingredients! 😦 I have eaten tamales in Guatemala and did not like them… maybe that memory didn’t help either! hehehe

I love your idea of wrapping them in vine leaves though! And your pictures are fantastic as always! ❤

I’ve always wanted to make tamales, but never had to courage to actually dig in and do it! You’ve given me that inspiration and I love how you’ve shown that you can use several different, and successful :), alternatives for the corn husks! This is definitely going on my “must try” list! thanks for the great post!

[…] was an interesting one because I have only used cornmeal in a recipe once before when we made tamales for the daring cooks challenge. Other than that cornmeal is used to dust pizza pans in my kitchen. […]

Sawson you are the little daredevil taking on all kinds of cooking feats that really are quite difficult. Bravo as you were a great success on this one. I actually bought dried corn husks the other day as I seen them in the market and then tried to find the other ingredients but was stuck there… I am bookmarking your recipe for when I can find the other ingredients I need. Take Care,
BAM

I really enjoy the daring kitchen challenges BAM, they are a great way to go out of my comfort zone and try new things.
I hope you will find the other ingredients because I look forward to hearing what you think of it

The tamales look beautiful, and even though its been a while since you made them, I would like to help to encourage you to give them another try. For the masa its best to use animal fat, so in your case you could use chicken/duck/goose fat for around 50% of the fat..you can use the other portion with shortening (if using lard then go for it 100%). The animal fat will keep the masa more moist whilst giving it superior flavor. Also try a red mole sauce to go with the chicken (something with chili peppers, seeds, nuts, bread and fat). My mother-in-law is mexican and taught me to made tamales, and mine are a big hit at work. I would be more than happy to give you my recipe if you’d like…proper tamales are a must do in any chef’s repertoire.